Month: June 2022

When Moore Kismet (Omar Davis) put out their first EP on Never Say Die in 2019, they were the youngest artist to do so on the label, at 14 years old. Galvanised by the honor, it also felt to Davis like the right moment to celebrate their sexuality.

“I was just like, you know what, this is like a crowning achievement in my life,” says Davis, effervescently nostalgic. “I’m very proud, I’m very happy — f–k it I’mma just tell the whole world I’m gay! Like, let me just go full force with this!”

It was a momentous occasion in the EDM producer’s journey that, to date, has been studded with superlatives. They were the youngest artist to perform at Lollapalooza and EDC Vegas in 2021 and next month, will be the youngest to play Tomorrowland. Notably for an artist working in bass music — the whitest, most male-dominated corner of a very white and male-dominated electronic music industry — they’re also Black, non-binary and pansexual, and last night (June 23) released their debut album, Universe, at the party end of Pride month.

Importantly, their richly textured productions are as captivating and unique as their persona, earning them support from scene heavyweights such as Illenium, Alison Wonderland and fellow wunderkind Martin Garrix, who recently posted an Instagram story of himself enjoying Davis’ career-best set at Coachella with the caption “YOOOOOO @moorekismet”, plus a flame and a heart emoji. (Davis reposted the story with his own caption: “YOOO WHAT THE F–K.”)

And yet, Davis is still just 17 years old and talking to Billboard over Zoom from their childhood bedroom in Adelanto, California after a day spent collecting their high school diploma, going grocery shopping and taking a call with Spotify bigwigs. Davis has been navigating this seesaw between normal teen life and hyperreality since large music events resumed last summer and they balanced their studies with performing to tens of thousands of screaming fans across the country. A trusted support team including manager Anthony Baca of Prodigy Artists helps keep them grounded, along with their beloved tour manager, stylist and mom, Utica A. Davis, better known as “Momma Kismet’.

“She taught me everything I needed to know so that I could be a fully functional human being by the time I was like, four or five years old,” says Davis, an old but excitable soul who laughs heartily, curses profusely, and frequently speaks in caps.

Davis started producing at around seven years old using Fruity Loops. At 12, they were ready to find an audience. “My mom and I had went to Palm Springs for a church retreat and I was like, ‘Mom, I wrote a bunch of tracks and I’m gonna put out a mixtape tonight at midnight,’ and she was like, ‘OK sweetie,’ and then fell right back to sleep.” Appearing briefly in Davis’ cluttered bedroom during the Zoom call, Momma Kismet laughs, confirming the memory.

Even back then, Davis understood the importance of good marketing. Their early remixes of popular songs attracted attention when no one knew their name, creating buzz on Soundcloud before they began sharing their original tracks. (They’ve released three EPs and at least 16 singles since 2018, with the entirety of their catalog collecting 6.8 million U.S. on-demand official streams, according to Luminate.)

Revealing their sexuality, however, was never a strategic move — though that didn’t stop the accusations of gimmickry coming in by the time they released their debut EP.

“People just started ragging on me for no apparent reason and acting like I wasn’t just like a normal human being, just trying to navigate life through my identity, because everything about me — my queerness, my Blackness, my youth, everything — is directly linked to my music. I’m not using it for clout, I’m using it as inspiration. I’m using it as passion and fuel,” says Davis. “I’m not using it to get money. I’m not using it to get fame.”

Being proud of who they are hasn’t made Davis immune to the abuse that has been hurled at them along the way, culminating in a suicide attempt a few years ago. “Getting called homophobic slurs at 13 years old, that shit is traumatizing,” they say. “It really f–ked with me to the point where I was like, do I even deserve to live anymore?” The following night, they poured their pain into music instead, writing a song called “Rumor”. Many of the tracks on Universe, out on Thrive Music, are similarly stormy, broaching Davis’ anxiety, depression, jealousy and a toxic relationship.

“I would describe Universe as a collection of pieces that encapsulate my life experiences as a Black trans teenager,” says Davis. “It’s an album about identity, love, self-expression, acceptance and tolerance and it’s dedicated to every weirdo and every human being that might feel out of place in the world.” Sonically, it’s also their boldest work yet, juxtaposing the crunch and whomp of bass music with pretty pads, glittering synth lines, and plenty of skittish, thrilling detours. “It’s a lot more refined than anything that I’ve released in the past,” says Davis. “It’s a lot more raw, it’s a lot more experimental. It’s very out there.”

Being a trailblazing Black queer artist in a monocultural scene is something that Davis, who was booked to play EDC two years in a row in 2021 and 2022, doesn’t take lightly. “That to me is making genuine change — just putting your best foot forward and showing people that we matter and that we’re here and that are not going to stop going as hard as we can and that we’re the best possible fit for your shows,” they say. “I want there to be a genuine change and inclusion and diversity in the electronic scene.”

Their growing prominence is, slowly, paving a way for that to become reality, before they’ve even turned 18. Next, they plan to launch their own production company (Davis is also a voice actor, visual artist and character designer), expanding their vision for the electronic scene to the entertainment industry as a whole.

“Queer people are such an integral, powerful part of that [industry] and telling our stories and reassuring other people that it’s okay to be yourself, I think that’s one key thing we’re missing,” they say. “I would like to help rectify this with the company and with the projects that we will be creating under this banner.”

With their track record of overachieving, it seems that any and all of Davis’ dreams are within reach.

Coming four months after Eminem and Snoop Dogg shared the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, the two hip-hop legends hopped on the mic for a collaborative track referencing their hometowns, “From The D 2 The LBC,” which dropped Friday (June 24). It comes with a partially animated music video, which gives the rappers (both of whom have been nicknamed Slim at various points in their lives) Bored Ape-styled cartoon avatars.

“This probably should have happened a while ago,” Em intones at the start of the song as he jokingly complains about Snoop filling the studio with his trademark smoke. That being said, it’s not exactly their first collab – Snoop was featured on Slim Shady’s The Marshall Mathers LP track “B-tch Please II.”

“Took too long to reconnect with @snoopdogg- you know we had to make a movie,” Eminem wrote on Instagram, adding in the hashtag “CurtainCall2,” causing some to wonder if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has a new greatest hits comp coming (his first one, Curtain Call: The Hits, dropped in 2005).

Eminem recently released “The King and I,” which features on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic Elvis; the full Elvis soundtrack is out today.

In addition to eying a future that involves virtual cannabis (why not?), Snoop recently released the comp Snoop Dogg Presents Death Row Summer 2022, which comes on the heels of his purchasing the iconic label and removing its catalog from streaming services.

First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week.

Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert, “Outrunnin’ Your Memory”

Reigning CMA entertainer of the year Combs and reigning ACM entertainer of the year Lambert join forces for a moody breakup song that finds each desperately trying to rid the other from their memory: “Outrunnin’ your memory is like outrunnin’ the wind/ I can’t get where I’m going if I can’t leave where you’ve been.” Lambert’s cool, country delivery complements Combs’s gravelly tone on this soulful country track, which sounds like an instant classic from two of country music’s superstars. The song is featured on Combs’s new album Growin’ Up, out today.

Sam Hunt, “Water Under the Bridge”

A twangy slice of nostalgia for childhood summers spent by the river, mixed with Hunt’s signature half-spoken/half-sung delivery. “We used to load up on Natty, unleaded and smokes/ Hide from the sheriff and let down our folks,” Hunt sings, with a deft blend of wistfulness and devil-may-care attitude.

Kip Moore, “Fire on Wheels”

After releasing the long-time fan favorite, the hazy gauze of nostalgia in “Crazy One More Time” earlier this year, Moore returns with perhaps his most danceable track to date, fueled by his fiery, defiant blend of country and southern rock. His raw, passionate vocal veers over thundering percussion, the result being a song perfectly crafted for the concert stage.

Breland, “Natural”

The groove gallops at full speed, further elevated by BRELAND’s joyous, effervescent vocal. The interpolation of Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” adds a dash of familiarity and sparkle. This track is poised to become an inescapable smash.

Tenille Townes ft. Breland, “Shared Walls”

Breland lands a second entry this week, as he and Tenille Townes settle into a gorgeous ballad about finding the common ground between perfect strangers. The story of catching glimpses into the life of another apartment dweller — exchanging pleasantries, picking up each other’s mail, or even hearing the cries of heartbreak at night through the thin apartment walls — is a deft balance of deep detail and universality.

David Nail, “Sunset Carousel”

Nail has a flamethrower of a voice, but he opts for a nicely subdued rendering that puts this tale of a short-lived summer love at the forefront. Nail wrote the song with Grant Vogel and Robyn Collins.

Randy Houser, “Workin’ Man”

Written by Houser and Randy Montana, “Workin’ Man” adds to country music’s canon of songs honoring blue-collar workers, detailing “workin’ man” essentials from steel-toed boots, morning coffee, and BC powder for constant aches. Houser yields his enviable vocals with a rough-hewn delivery that lends grit to this radio-friendly track.

Sunny Sweeney feat. Paul Cauthen, “A Song Can’t Fix Everything”

This delightfully twangy track finds Sweeney and Cauthen musing that a song “can’t fix everything,” but it can serve as a conduit for memories and a respite from life’s rough patches. Written by Sweeney and Lori McKenna, this track showcases the beautiful vocal blend between Cauthen and Sweeney, atop a timeless message.

Sammy Arriaga, “Chevy Bel Air”

Smooth island vibes blend with touches of country and Latin pop for a light-hearted song as cool as a fruity drink on a sizzling summer day. Meanwhile, Arriaga’s grainy, warm voice and laid-back delivery reveals the influence of artists like Keith Urban.

Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, the artist born Ogi Ifediora never expected to make music her career. But after posting covers of songs on Instagram as a senior at Northwestern University (where she was studying slightly less creative subjects), her future began to take a new shape.

After one cover in particular took off, Ogi, now 25, soon scored a record deal and, earlier this year, released her celebrated debut EP on ARTium Recordings/Atlantic Records. Now, having toured with Snoh Aalegra and with more live dates ahead, the artist is nothing but excited for what’s still to come.

Foundation

Growing up, R&B singer Ogi was often woken up at sunrise by her grandmother singing Nigerian hymns. “Those are the first songs I can remember memorizing, because we heard them every day,” she recalls. Raised in Wisconsin, Ogi says there weren’t many people of color around, so her mother made it a point to bring the family to Nigerian prayer meetings, where everyone would sing. It was there that Ogi developed a fascination with harmony and recognized the power of layered voices. And in her high school’s jazz choir, she discovered her gift of perfect pitch.

Discovery

Despite her passion for music, Ogi majored in political science and minored in legal studies at Northwestern University. “Being Nigerian, there are really three paths that you can go on in terms of careers: doctor, lawyer and engineer,” she says. Still, she made time to perform in an a cappella group, and during her senior year started an Instagram account dedicated to cover songs, including tracks like PJ Morton’s “Alright.” “I would post these videos just harmonizing with myself with covers of songs that I liked,” she says. Morton was so taken with her rendition that he reposted the song; that caught the attention of producer No. I.D., who quickly signed her to his Def Jam imprint ARTium in 2021.

Future

Ogi, who relocated to Los Angeles after graduating, describes her debut EP, Monologues, which arrived in May, as her tryout for the music industry. “When you go into an audition, you have monologues to show the breadth of what you could do,” she says. The six-track project arrived alongside the bouncy single “Bitter,” which stemmed from a demo she made in college after a bad date. In June, Ogi performed at her first festival (Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water) after spending her spring on tour with Snoh Aalegra. As for whether she thinks her “audition” was a success, Ogi says, “Even if the answer was ‘no’ to the audition, I’m here.”

This story originally appeared in the June 25, 2022 issue of Billboard.

In just a matter of hours, Billie Eilish will headline the 2022 Glastonbury Festival. And with two No. 1 albums, seven Grammys and more than 100 million Instagram followers to her name, it makes since that she’ll be taking top billing alongside Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar — well, to everyone but her.

In a new interview with NME, the 20-year-old pop star opened up about the severe imposter syndrome she faces when it comes to taking on big shows with crowds of tens of thousands, which Glastonbury’s main stage will more than likely see. “I’m going to have to prove myself, which is part of doing festivals and part of headlining them all over the world,” she told the publication. “I have to prove it to myself, too. I often feel like I don’t deserve to be here right now doing this show and on this stage.”

“Any time in the last year I’ve headlined a festival, I’ve felt like, ‘Why would you choose me?’” she continued. “With that in mind, I’m going to go even harder to prove to myself that I can do it and not to half-ass it… I will be going out and full-assing it.”

“Half of me is like, ‘This is so stupid and so humiliating that I’m here, I shouldn’t be allowed to be up here or ready for this,’” she added. “And then the other side says, ‘No, you’re here; they chose you and they’re here for you.’ I have to convince myself that I’m not a huge loser and accidentally there… I find it very hard to process this life sometimes.”

Eilish also talked about the challenges of pulling off a show that’s regarded as successful by audiences as a female performer. “Women have to have a million back-up dancers and a million costume changes and their hair done, and crazy costumes and stage set-up,” she said. “I love male performers, but they barely have to do sh-t to have a show that people like, and women are expected to have the biggest show.

“I’m tired of feeling like we have to do that to feel adequate. If you want to do that, then that’s so great, but I remember thinking that I would never be able to headline anything because of those expectations.”

In just over one year, dance trio Cheat Codes completed its three-part debut album, Hellraisers, with the final piece arriving in May. But long before then, the independent act was already working on its follow-up — and considering how to keep its fan base on its toes. The answer: a country album.

Having released the 2021 country collaborations “Never Love You Again” with Little Big Town and Bryn Christopher and “How Do You Love” with Lee Brice and Lindsay Ell, Cheat Codes felt inspired to keep building. “We had so much fun making [those songs], we just started working on a bunch of other ideas, and one turned into 13,” says Trevor Dahl. “It’s why we got into electronic music, because we’re able to explore other genres and other artists and not be stuck in one lane.”

Ahead of the as-yet-untitled album’s summer release — for which they tapped collaborators including Lady A, Jimmie Allen, Maddie & Tae and others — Dahl and bandmates KEVI and Matthew Russell revisit what excited them while exploring country music.

Dolly Parton

Thanks to his sister, Dahl was exposed to country music in elementary school and later became a fan of everyone from Rascal Flatts to Taylor Swift. “I’ve always loved that country-pop stuff, and being able to dive into it with our music is really cool and something that I didn’t necessarily think we would be able to do when we started,” he says. As for other inspirations, the trio is unanimously all-in on Dolly Parton (Russell grew up going to the Dixie Stampede in Branson, Mo.), and the act even has a song concept for her that she may make a surprise appearance on. While favorite songs of hers include “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene,” the trio says if it had to choose, its idea for the country icon is most aligned with the even poppier “9 to 5.”

Stagecoach Festival

All three members mention the importance of attending California’s Stagecoach Festival in late April, with Russell saying, “I guess it’s similar to EDM in a way, where country music is the music but it’s also the lifestyle. That’s what sells you on it.” During the event, Cheat Codes hung out with Lee Brice and his band, and the trio also tossed back tequila shots with Guy Fieri. “It’s fun for us; we were having a good time,” recalls Dahl. KEVI, who has attended both Coachella and Stagecoach, believes the latter to be more family-oriented, observing that it’s much less about clout than “everyone having a good time together. It’s a different vibe, different energy.”

Nashville

Naturally, Cheat Codes spent some time in the city while making the upcoming album, including a trip for a Good Morning America performance with Brice. KEVI was there for a week: “I bought a truck because of it, honestly,” he says. “I filled up my closet with so many cowboy and western jackets, so much cool sh-t.” Russell adds that any amount of firsthand experience in a genre’s base is essential when sonically tapping in. “Everyone’s friendly, and everyone’s priorities are in a different place sometimes than if you’re in New York or in Los Angeles, where you’re worried about likes and being big on TikTok,” he says. “So I think when you experience [being there], you connect with the lyrics a little bit more and understand the storytelling.”

This story originally appeared in the June 25, 2022, issue of Billboard.

Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.

This week, Taylor Swift visits the spot where the crawdads sing, Lil Nas X has some thoughts on an awards snub, and Luke Combs embraces his range. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:

Taylor Swift, “Carolina” 

“About a year & half ago I wrote a song about the story of a girl who always lived on the outside, looking in,” Taylor Swift posted on her social channels as “Carolina,” her new single for the big-screen adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing. The timing of the creation of “Carolina” — a year and a half ago, Swift was in the midst of her Folklore/Evermore double wallop — clues listeners in on its foundation: produced with Aaron Dessner, the track finds Swift exploring her still-fertile indie-folk instincts, with gentle acoustic finger-plucking, subtle fiddle and banjo contributions, and striking imagery like “Hide me like robes down the back road / Muddy these webs we weave.”

Lil Nas X feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again, “Late To Da Party” 

Has Lil Nas X created the new sub-genre of snub-rap? With “Late To Da Party,” a new team-up with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, the superstar takes an unveiled shot at BET, which received a personal outcry when Lil Nas X scored zero nominations for this weekend’s BET Awards, before moving on to a swaggering pop-rap tone reminiscent of “Industry Baby.” “Late To Da Party” starts off with some vitriol, but the two rappers move on to enjoying the spoils of their hard work, with Nas reflecting on the Met Gala and YoungBoy comparing himself to John Gotti.

Luke Combs, Growin’ Up 

Country listeners championed Luke Combs early and often, turning the North Carolina native into a superstar even before his songwriting could evolve and meet his national profile. Now, it has: Growin’ Up, Combs’ third studio album, is steadier in its storytelling, rollicking in the sensual come-ons of “The Kind of Love We Make” with the same confidence as the wistful similes of “Going, Going, Gone,” all while Combs’ deepened twang continues to resonate, particularly alongside Miranda Lambert on the charming duet “Outrunnin’ Your Memory.”

Charlie Puth feat. Jung Kook, “Left and Right” 

BTS fans should delight in the fact that “Left and Right,” Charlie Puth’s new single featuring the group’s Jung Kook, is a true duet — instead of Puth inviting his pal onto the track for some light lifting, the pair balance each other pristinely on the song with call-and-response verses and hook trade-offs. Puth thrives in this type of snappy post-heartbreak pop songwriting, but Jung Kook sounds just as comfortable, providing a warmth to his woeful rhetorical questions and keeping up with Puth’s melodic bounce in time with the drum thwacks.

Giveon, Give or Take 

Giveon possesses an indisputably classic voice, the type of singular R&B baritone that would cut through any era; sometimes that voice will power crossover hits, like his own “Heartbreak Anniversary” or Justin Bieber’s chart-topping “Peaches (also featuring Daniel Caesar), but any new Giveon project will carry the base line of his tone. Give or Take fortunately boasts several songs worthy of that voice, with accounts of romance, heartache and the trials of success framed as a discussion with his mother, who proudly checks in on an opening voice memo.

Conan Gray, Superache 

Like his pal Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray is a new-school pop star, a dynamic stage presence whose ornate songwriting and expansive sonic interests can work across sprawling full-lengths as well as within TikTok clips. Sophomore album Superache, which was made with fellow Rodrigo studio collaborator Dan Nigro, contains moments that work as the centerpiece of an immersive headphones experience, like the deliciously off-kilter “Jigsaw,” and others that deserve to go viral, like the rapid-fire hook of the dizzying new single “Disaster.”

Longtime LGBTQ ally and honorary gay Madonna, whose Finally Enough Love remix album just dropped, celebrated New York Pride at Terminal 5 on Thursday (June 23) night at World of Women’s NFT.NYC event. Not only did the pop icon – who has recently ventured into the NFT space, covering Billboard’s World of Women NFT magazine cover – bring out a gaggle of top-tier drag queens for her NYC Pride celebration, but she tapped iconoclasts in the making such as Tokischa and Saucy Santana to help celebrate a month that separates the dilettantes from the true blues.

There were shades of the 2003 VMAs at the NYC venue when the Dominican rapper and the Queen of Pop shared the stage on a dembow remix of M’s top 10 Hot 100 hit “Hung Up.” First, Tokischa took the stage rapping her Rosalía collab “Linda” before Madonna and “Hung Up” made an appearance. The strands of the songs began to meld together and the two (who have teased a collaboration before) began to gyrate closer and closer until the seemingly inevitable make out – and it was certainly more of a make out than a kiss – commenced. Taking it one step further, Tokischa – honoring the pop gods who paved the way — knelt down before the Queen and put her face in the holiest of holies during the late-night set. “It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it,” Madonna quipped after the heady moment.

Tokischa wasn’t the only newcomer to join Madge on stage in Manhattan, though. Saucy Santana assisted Madonna during a mash-up of his DGAF track “Material Girl” and her No. 1 smash “Material Girl,” demonstrating an effortless comfort with commanding a sizable venue’s audience.

Additionally, a slew of renowned drag queens joined Madonna at Terminal 5, including Drag Race champ Bob the Drag Queen – who busted out “4 Minutes” for about four seconds with Madonna’s son David Banda – as well as NYC mainstay Pixie Aventura and another Drag Race winner, Violet Chachki, who performed an astonishing aerial act on a chair to “Justify My Love” before Madonna even took the stage.

Before she left, Madonna was joined by all her special guests – rappers, drag queens, family – for a run-through of a song she hasn’t done live in a minute, the title track to her 2009 compilation Celebration. If NYC Pride, in a post-COVID world, wasn’t feeling like a full-on party earlier this week, it certainly was by the time Madonna left the stage (as well as Tokischa’s lips) at Terminal 5 on Thursday night.